The Reticent Executioner

A dystopian world deserves a dystopian detective, and London just got hers.

A female politician is shot dead in the capital. A talented detective, Kramer, is charged with leading the investigation; trouble is, he’s both much more – and a great deal less than mere cop. His brilliance is at least in part due to his skewed moral compass.

This is less whodunnit than whydunnit and a will-he-get-away-with it crime novel set in an England several years hence – a world of labour camps, capital punishment, mass deportations and imprisonment without trial.

REVIEWS

Someone told me to read this after I went on about how good Peter Hoeg’s Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow was. This is better. It’s well written and intelligent but pacy. It’s set in London in the future and it’s as atmospheric as Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later. I hope there are more Detective Kramer novels to come – Emma (Amazon Review)

Dark and compelling, this reminded me of 1984. I don’t want to give too much away but I read it in one sitting and I’m still reeling – Mark (GoodReads review)

Anthony Burgess always preferred the word cacatopia to dystopia, and it certainly describes the setting for this excellent thriller. The Party, “generously funded by two aged American billionaires with links to nationalist-religious zealots in a Near East pariah state” has gained power in England, and the country has descended into Big Brother tyranny with added ethnic cleansing and guillotines. Enter our anti-hero, a seedy detective who has his own ideas for fighting back. Very pacy, relevant, and keeps you guessing. More please. Ned (GoodReads review)